do you see it?

Last week I mentioned that we'd taken the family to see a chiropractor and when we returned a few days later to see the developed x-rays, we saw an obvious curve in Liam's spine. Peter and I and Dr Quirk all hoped that some of the curve was due to how he was standing and that it would not be quite so pronounced a curve when re-examined.

We went back yesterday for another appointment and more x-rays. To begin with, Dr Quirk had Liam take off his shirt and move around (raise his arms, bend and touch his toes, etc), all the while pointing things out. Now that we know it's there, I can't believe we didn't see it on our own long before this.

Take a look at this picture I took this morning.

Maybe nothing jumps out at you, but look at it again, this time focusing on the height of his shoulders and where his spine runs between his shoulder blades.

Do you see it now?

To make it even more obvious, I've added some lines. The black shows where his spine should be and how his shoulders and hips should line up. The red is how they actually are (although I don't think I did the neck right. I just remember him saying that there's a secondary curve near the base of his neck, but that the neck itself is perfect).

Now do you see it? How did we miss it all these years?

Liam, for his part, is not at all phased by the news that his spine is curved. He says his back never hurts (although he does have some wicked bad growing pains in his legs that might be related). He was thrilled to see "his skeleton" on the x-rays and to have all the bones and organs pointed out to him by the doctor.

And Simon? Well he was thrilled to learn how to turn on the wall-mounted light boxes...